Revealed: why Daleks stir such terror in viewers

AN ACADEMIC believes he has solved one of television's most enduring questions - just why are the Daleks so scary?

Dr Robin Bunce, of Cambridge University, said the fear inspired by the Doctor Who villains is nothing to do with their robotic cries of "exterminate" or their attempts to conquer the world, but because we fear we might become like them. "The reason the Daleks are evil is because we recognise that they were once better," he said. "They are the nightmare future we dread."